Chess Has a New Dark Soul.
Stonemachia, developed by Crossfall Games, an Italian studio with just nine members, is now flying high on Steam with a 96% positive review score. Although a classic Souls-like, the game offers a more pared-down approach, focusing on combat and exploration, reminiscent of games like Sekiro: Shadow Die Twice, rather than character development and storyline.
A Renaissance Nightmare on a Chessboard
The game has a strong visual identity. The idea of using chess pieces as protagonists and antagonists of the story, adapting the game world itself to these themes, is unique and represents a small gem in the sea of indie games. The game maps, featuring elements from major Italian cities like Milan and Venice, also convey all the charm of Renaissance and Gothic architecture.
The music, on the other hand, is decidedly more flat. Outside of boss encounters, the soundtrack rarely leaves a lasting impression. Most tracks function as background accompaniment rather than actively contributing to the atmosphere, making the musical identity feel weaker than the visual one.
Between Brilliant Shortcuts and Complete Disorientation
This is definitely the part that drove me crazy the most while playing, because I couldn’t find any logic behind such a fluctuating game architecture. You go from well-maintained, easy-to-navigate areas that lead the player to discover secret areas, hidden bosses, or simply rich loot. To levels where you have to pray to find even just a reference point to avoid getting lost and spinning around a thousand times. Of course, it’s true that getting lost is a great way to discover new things, and the game does this very well, as I said before, but at a certain point you also need to be able to move on…
Parry First, Ask Questions Later
From here, we begin to delve into the woeful city. As I wrote at the beginning, Stonemachia is a simplified action game that doesn’t seek any great innovations but rather tries to make good use of what it has, and it doesn’t always succeed.
The game’s combat system revolves around two core mechanics: the light attack (because the heavy attack is a bit peculiar) and the parry, which not only makes eliminating threats easier by almost always unbalancing enemies, but is also the player’s only way to recover charges from the sole source of healing available. Now, there’s a positive side to this, and a rather negative one.
The positive is that the game offers a very generous window for making perfect parries and defending, making it possible for even those less accustomed to the mechanics to perform them. The downside, however, is that enemy animations are often unreadable, and it’s really hard to take the time to defend yourself in the absence of visual or auditory feedback. And since you need to block others to heal from a successful attack, it becomes a bit of a dog chasing its own tail. Added to this are cumbersome particle effects and a less than user-friendly camera, which make it even harder to understand what’s happening on-screen.
Customization and progression are the least recommendable aspects of the game. The former is simply nonexistent: there are no weapons, rings, or gems to equip; it’s just you and the armor (the piece) you choose to use. This isn’t an overly negative aspect in itself, but it certainly reduces the immersion in the game and leads to repetitive gameplay very quickly once you’ve found the piece you like. As for the progression of our pawn, it is also very simple and linear, leveling up will increase our stats with all the various pieces and continuing in the game’s campaign will unlock abilities and powers, few, to be honest.
The Rough Edges of an Ambitious Project
Let’s start by saying that I personally have a very respectable PC, so I haven’t encountered any technical issues during my time playing, aside from a few small and rare stuttering issues. That said, there are a couple of things to mention.
The first is, again, the camera behavior, which on more than one occasion gets in the way and prevents you from having a clear view of what’s happening. The second issue I encountered, especially against small enemies, is the inaccurate hitboxes and hurtboxes on enemies. At various times, both I and they would pass through them or be blocked by layers of invisible colliders. Fortunately, I didn’t encounter this problem during any boss fights, which, aside from what I’ve already mentioned, seemed pretty clean on the technical side.
Finally, a minor issue for some, but perhaps crucial for those approaching the genre for the first time, is the poor communication of information, tutorials, and explanations regarding what the player can or should do. And the “problem” is that this information exists in the game, but you have to go looking for it.
A Worthy Piece on the Board?
Stonemachia is a game of contrasts. Its striking visual identity and accessible parry-focused combat make a strong first impression, but inconsistent level design, limited customization, and readability issues prevent it from reaching the heights of the genre’s best representatives. For fans of the genre, it will still provide hours of fun – and frustration, which is certainly inevitable in these games.
For those approaching it for the first time, I simply say to be patient, because while the title isn’t perfect, it’s not a bad one either. In fact, Stonemachia could be an excellent entry-level game in its genre thanks to its simplicity and more relaxed pace. In conclusion, the game may not be a masterpiece, but whether you’re a veteran or a new player, it’s worth giving it a try.
Stonemachia
PRO
- Distinctive visual identity;
- Strong parry-focused combat;
- Memorable atmosphere.
CON
- Limited build variety;
- Some readability issues;
- Occasional technical roughness.
7/10
